The Republican / File photo by David RobackMassachusetts Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo said Wednesday he would work closely with Gov. Deval Patrick and Senate President Therese Murray to devise a new bill for casinos, saying expanded gaming would create jobs and generate aid for cities and towns in the state.

BOSTON - After winning re-election to his post, Massachusetts House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo on Wednesday pledged to revive a proposal for casinos, cut the costs of health insurance for cities and towns and eradicate patronage in state government.

In the opening day of a new two-year session of the state Legislature, DeLeo laid out an agenda that includes some of the more thorny issues facing state government.

A total of 199 state legislators - 40 in the Senate and 159 in the House, with the winner of one House seat still undetermined - took the oath for new two-year terms. The roster included the first Asian-Americans ever elected to the House - Reps. Tackey Chan, a Quincy Democrat, and Donald H. Wong, a Saugus Republican, plus five new House members and one new senator from Western Massachusetts.

Patrick is set to take the oath for a second term on Thursday in an inaugural event in the chamber of the state House of Representatives.

DeLeo said he would work closely with Patrick and Senate President Therese Murray to devise a new bill for casinos, saying expanded gaming would create jobs and generate aid for cities and towns. DeLeo was silent on slot machines at race tracks, a provision that led to a bitter defeat of a casino bill last year.

“I don’t have to remind this chamber and the broader community that our state still clamors for jobs and local aid,” DeLeo told the packed House chamber. “The most immediate source of these as well as long-term revenue remains gaming.”

State legislators took their seats amid a serious fiscal crisis in state government. Legislators are facing up $2 billion shortfall in the $28 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. DeLeo, Murray and Patrick all have said they will not propose any new taxes.

The state’s rainy day fund is down to about $750 million now from more than $2 billion before the recession.

State legislators are considering cutting some $5.1 billion in state aid to cities and towns to help balance the budget.

Rep. Charles A. Murphy, D-Burlington, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said casinos could be taken up rather quickly this year.

“It’s a big ticket item and people know if we’re successful in getting something done, it does mean revenue ultimately,” he said in an interview. “And a lot has already been said about it. Last session, there was a lot of back and forth, a lot of debate. You don’t necessarily have to rehash everything.”

DeLeo said he was “sorely disappointed” that relatively few cities and towns have voted to join the state Group Insurance Commission, which administers health insurance for current and retired state employees and can reduce costs through economies of scale. So far, a total of 31 school districts, government entities and communities, including Pittsfield and Springfield, have joined the state commission under a state law that allows the move with approval of public employee unions.

DeLeo said $100 million could be saved if all cities and towns enlisted in the state insurance plan.

“Unless cities and towns can find health insurance at the same or lower cost than the GIC, we should force them to join - bringing them under the more efficient and cost effective state system,” he said.

DeLeo also alluded to the patronage scandal in the state probation department currently roiling Beacon Hill. He promised to overhaul hiring in state government.

“We will make clear that all public servants must not only be qualified for their jobs; they must be the most qualified people for their jobs,” the speaker said. “And we will also ensure that state hiring authorities understand that we expect that they will serve but one master - the taxpaying public.”

In a vote along party lines, the House, by 128-31, re-elected DeLeo to a two-year term as speaker.

After DeLeo’s speech, Senate President Therese Murray said she favors another attempt at legalizing casinos.

“If it’s a bill and it comes before us and it creates jobs and it puts money into the commonwealth’s coffers, I would be supportive depending on how it’s structured,” said Murray, who was unanimously re-elected as Senate president.

But Murray downplayed chances for approval of a law for casinos.

“After last year, I’m not betting on it,” said Murray, a Plymouth Democrat.

Patrick rejected a casino bill last year, after DeLeo insisted on including two slot licenses to be bid among the state’s two horse and two former dog tracks. In addition to slots for two tracks, the failed bill also called for three casino resorts including one in Western Massachusetts.

A group called Paper City Development is proposing a casino for Holyoke and the Mohegan Sun wants to open a casino resort in Palmer.

Patrick told reporters that expanded gambling is not at the top of his list. If casinos are to succeed, Patrick said, he would need to agree on a bill with the speaker and Senate president before bringing it up for debate in the House and Senate.

“It just sucks all the oxygen out of the place and we’ve got a lot of other work to do,” the governor said.

Sen. James T. Welch, a West Springfield Democrat who was sworn in to replace Stephen J. Buoniconti, said he expected legislators to take up casinos again.

In assuming his new office, Welch was joined by a handful of new House members from Western Massachusetts.